Portal:Germany/Selected article/2008
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These articles have appeared on the Portal:Germany page in 2008.
Contents |
January
Knut is a captive-born polar bear who was born at the Zoologischer Garten Berlin on 5 December 2006. Rejected by his mother at birth, he was subsequently raised by zoo keepers. He was the first polar bear cub to survive past infancy at the Berlin Zoo in over thirty years. At one time the subject of international controversy, he became a popular tourist attraction and commercial success. After the German tabloid magazine Bild ran a quote from an animal rights activist that seemingly called for the death of the young cub, a worldwide public outrage was caused as fans rallied in support of his being hand-raised by humans.
Knut became the center of a mass media phenomenon dubbed "Knutmania" that spanned the globe and quickly spawned numerous toys, media specials, DVDs, and books. Because of this, the polar bear was largely responsible for a significant increase in revenue at the Berlin Zoo in 2007. Zoo attendance figures for the year increased by an estimated 30 percent. More...
February
The Göttingen Seven (German: Göttinger Sieben; also known in English as the Göttinger filters) were a group of seven professors from Göttingen. In 1837 they protested against the abolition or alteration of the constitution of the kingdom of Hanover by Ernest Augustus and refused to swear an oath to the new king of Hanover. The company of seven was led by Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann, who himself was one of the key advocates of the unadulterated constitution. The other six were the Germanist brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm (famed fairy tale and folk tale writers and storytellers; known together as the Brothers Grimm), the jurist Wilhelm Eduard Albrecht, the historian Georg Gottfried Gervinus, the physicist Wilhelm Eduard Weber, and the theologian and orientalist Heinrich Georg August Ewald. More...
March
The Free Association of German Trade Unions (abbreviated FVdG; sometimes also translated as Free Association of German Unions or Free Alliance of German Trade Unions) was a trade union federation in Imperial and early Weimar Germany. It was founded in 1897 in Halle under the name Representatives' Centralization of Germany as the national umbrella organization of the localist current of the German labor movement. The localists rejected the centralization in the labor movement following the sunset of the Anti-Socialist Laws in 1890 and preferred grassroots democratic structures. The lack of a strike code soon led to conflict within the organization. Various ways of providing financial support for strikes were tested before a system of voluntary solidarity was agreed upon in 1903. During the years following its formation, the FVdG began to adopt increasingly radical positions. During the German socialist movement's debate over the use of mass strikes, the FVdG advanced the view that the general strike must be a weapon in the hands of the working class. Immediately after the November Revolution, the FVdG very quickly became a mass organization. It was particularly attractive to miners from the Ruhr area opposed to the mainstream unions' reformist policies. In December 1919, the federation merged with several minor left communist unions to become the Free Workers' Union of Germany (FAUD). More...
April
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Michael Schumacher, (born January 3, 1969, in Hürth Hermülheim, Germany) is a former Formula One driver, and seven-time world champion. According to the official Formula One website, he is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen". He is the first German to win the Formula One World championship and is credited with popularising Formula One in Germany.
After winning two championships with Benetton, Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996 and won five consecutive drivers' titles with them from 2000-2004. Schumacher holds many records in Formula One, including most drivers' championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, points scored and most races won in a single season. Schumacher is the first and only Formula One driver to have an entire season of podium finishes (2002). His driving sometimes created controversy: he was twice involved in collisions that determined the outcome of the world championship, most notably his disqualification from the 1997 championship for causing a collision with Jacques Villeneuve. After the 2006 Formula One season Schumacher retired from race driving. Off the track, Schumacher is an ambassador for UNESCO and a spokesman for driver safety. He has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts throughout his life. More...
May
Triumph of the Will is a propaganda film by the German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. It chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg. The film contains excerpts from speeches given by various Nazi leaders at the Congress, including portions of speeches by Adolf Hitler, interspersed with footage of massed party members. Hitler commissioned the film and served as an unofficial executive producer; his name appears in the opening titles. The overriding theme of the film is the return of Germany as a great power, with Hitler as the True German Leader who will bring glory to the nation.
Triumph of the Will was released in 1935 and rapidly became one of the better-known examples of propaganda in film history. Riefenstahl's techniques, such as moving cameras, the use of telephoto lenses to create a distorted perspective, aerial photography, and revolutionary approach to the use of music and cinematography, have earned Triumph recognition as one of the greatest films in history. Riefenstahl won several awards, not only in Germany but also in the United States, France, Sweden, and other countries. The film was popular in the Third Reich and elsewhere, and has continued to influence movies, documentaries, and commercials to this day, even as it raises the question over the dividing line between art and morality. More...
June
The Battle of Schellenberg, also known as the Battle of Donauwörth, was fought during the War of the Spanish Succession on 2 July 1704. The assault on the Schellenberg heights on the River Danube was part of the Duke of Marlborough’s campaign to rescue Vienna, the capital of Habsburg Austria, from King Louis XIV's forces ranged in southern Germany. Marlborough had commenced his march from Bedburg, near Cologne, on 19 May; within five weeks the Duke had reached the Danube where he sought to bring the Elector of Bavaria's forces to open battle. However, the Allied army’s lines of supply were established in Franconia and central Germany, too far north to be convenient once the line of the Danube had been crossed. It was therefore necessary not only to secure a bridge across the river, but also to obtain a new supply base. To achieve these objectives, the Allied commanders chose the walled town of Donauwörth, overlooked by the fortress on the Schellenberg Heights. Once the Franco-Bavarian commanders knew of the Allies’ objective, they dispatched Count d’Arco with 12,000 men to strengthen and hold the position. Marlborough’s co-commander, Louis of Baden, preferred a protracted siege; however, with news arriving that Marshal Tallard was approaching with French reinforcements, the Duke insisted on an immediate assault. Within two hours the Allies had secured their objective, but at considerable cost; the coup de main had cost the Allies some 5,000 casualties, and the defenders, 8,000. Nevertheless, with a supply base and river crossing firmly secured, the Duke of Marlborough – soon to be reinforced by Prince Eugene of Savoy – could now fight the battle he had desired. More...
July
Portal:Germany/Selected article/2008/July
August
Portal:Germany/Selected article/2008/August
September
Portal:Germany/Selected article/2008/September
October
Portal:Germany/Selected article/2008/October
November
Portal:Germany/Selected article/2008/November
December
Portal:Germany/Selected article/2008/December
